Exposed to Madness
by TaroStrike
Summary: Nearly two years ago the evil power Giygas was destroyed. Time has passed but a world mostly unaware of the events of recent past is a far cry from return to harmony.
1. Just Another Bad Dream

Earthbound

Exposed to Madness

Disclaimer:

-The author does not own any part of the Mother/Earthbound series, including but not limited to the characters of the story.

-This story is entirely fictional, based from purely fictional premise, none of the characters, actions characters partake in, many contraptions found here-in did not happen/do not actually exist.

-No money was made from the creation or distribution of this fic.

-No animals, people, or extra terrestrials were hurt in the making of this fic.

-The author does not encourage nor endorse others to partake in actions as described within the story.

Warnings:

This story is rated M for the following reasons:

-Depictions of violence and gore.

-Strong language.

-Depictions of sexual acts including sexual involvement of minors

If any of these themes offend you, please do not continue to read this story.

Misc Notes from the Author:

I'm probably more of a classic RPG nut than most, but some of my fondest memories growing up were playing games on the SNES such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI (or III as it said on the box), Super Mario RPG, and of course Earthbound. Earthbound was one of those quirky little games that you had to allow your geeky mind to wonder if you ever wanted to have a hope of understanding it. The graphic designs were overly simplified, there really wasn't a whole lot of animation going on, all in all the gameplay felt as though it had been rushed and thrown together over night. Despite those shortcomings there is something about Earthbound/Mother 2 which felt if not satisfying at least gratifying if that makes any sense. It had a charisma and atmosphere about it which I have yet to see replicated well. It was a requirement to use your imagination to fill in the gaps and to see what couldn't be seen. Maybe that's what's missing in modern games is player interpretation. So yes, this game holds a special place in my heart.

As with any source material that requires imagination, there are many different ways the story and events can be interpreted, and such the game ages quite well with its audience. I recently read a story called "The Universe Will Die Without You" by The-EverLasting-Ash, and I was floored by the themes she interpreted into her story while paralleling the game just so exquisitely well. So I decided to go ahead and try my hand for my first time at writing an Earthbound fic.

This story does take place within a year or two after the end of the game. This is one of my stories so I will be taking some creative liberties at my own interpretation of the game. I hope that doesn't throw anyone off too bad as we go through the story, and I'll be doing my best of course for the story to explain itself.

For anyone poking their heads in because they've read my other stories, I'm sorry to say my ZAT fans will probably not like this story too much. If you're following me because of Rapture however this should be right up your alley. I'm actually hoping that writing this story will get me back in the mood to finish off Rapture.

Feel free to email me at: revu at revstuff dot com

Thanks! And on to the story!

* * *

Horns blared impatiently as traffic was brought to a halt by a red light. People bustled about their daily rituals; hurriedly they crossed wide and unforgiving streets, some going to work, some running errands, others finally going home.

Noise.

Different sounds ricocheted off the walls in every direction. From the monstrous roar of expensive engines to heavy footsteps on overly crowded walkways to cell phones ringing in indecipherable jingles to the mass of varyingly pitched voices of everyone speaking at once, it was loud. Every day in Fourside brought with it a menagerie of fast paced life.

Despite the pale hues of red and yellow embracing the blue sky, the surface of Fourside always emitted an atmosphere of sullen grey. No minds were paid to the glorious blues of the bay nor the majestic greens of the surrounding woods. The thickened atmosphere within the city forbade gazing away from its grand magnitude and splendorous layers of smoky haze.

The dankness of the town had become the norm to her residuals who would cling to her for the sake of normalcy and complacency. The sutured mask of happiness and gratitude was interrupted as grounded shadows lengthened and darkened on a cloudless day.

Slowly her noise faded. Much talking and walking ceased. Cars slowed their motion. Even the winds ceased their howl through the buildings. The tone of the city lit anew as the light from the sky hued red, illuminating the people and buildings in shades of crimson and blood. The red sun up above did descend, but it was not the sun. Children grabbed onto their parents, eyes wide with striking fear as fire fell from the sky. The first torch to fall set a great tower asunder in flames. The roar of the inferno woke the people from their reverie as noise returned and all began to run and scream.

Civility was lost as those of the larger and stronger persuasion shoved aside those too old or too young. Like an angry storm from heaven the fire rained down, burning, incinerating, cauterizing, cleansing. The entire city was set ablaze, and the painful screams were loud. Far from earth, the sun itself did beam down upon the city in woe for but a moment before it too burst; consumed by its own flames.

Deep indigo eyes shot open in start as Ness sat up quickly. Taking in a deep breath, Ness wiped the sweat from his hot brow, "Just another dream…" Ness fell back to the ground and put a hand in front of his face to block the sun from entering his eyes. "I should probably stop falling asleep in the desert like this…"

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Just Another Bad Dream**

* * *

With a shake of the head to clear his grogginess, Ness finally pushed himself to his feet and stretched.

Garbed in uncharacteristic clothing, yet far more suited for the desert, Ness adjusted a light brown poncho on his shoulders and blew sand out from behind a tinted sand visor, which he then replaced atop his head.

Ness's gaze reached across the Tenda Oasis. The blue water was a sparkling beauty in the midst of the blustery Dynamite Dunes Desert. He remembered falling asleep in the shade; though it appeared his cover had vanished with the moving sun.

Approaching the water, Ness kneeled down and took a drink before wiping his face and straightening his posture, "Time to get back to work then." Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, Ness ran up one of the dunes that surrounded the oasis valley. At the top of the dune was a sharp steep ledge which Ness jumped over without the slightest hesitation. The fall was easily twenty meters or more as Ness plummeted to the sand below. Loose clothing fluttered as the air moved around his body quickly, yet Ness waited until the ground approached. A sparkle of energy twisted around Ness's body as he turned himself in the air and his powers slowed his fall until he touched down gently on the sand with the slightest patter.

Ness travelled alone across the sprawling sands of the desert. Isolated far from other life, Ness had chosen this place specifically not endanger anyone as he pushed himself. "P…K… FLASH!" His voice echoed across the bare sands as his energy blew the small mountains of dust into the air. The brown grains caught the wind and were blown back in his direction. Ness concentrated on the dense floating dust cloud and felt out its form with his mind before using his powers to try and target the individual granules and alter their path around him rather than use a shield.

The threat of apocalypse had been averted almost two years prior, however Ness's restless mind had yet to allow him to stop.

 _"It hurts"_

The temperature around Ness's hands rose as he stood centered between many dried dead thorny desert bushes, "PK FIRE!" The dry brush before him immediately disintegrated into a smoky blaze.

 _"...friends..."_

In rapid succession Ness pointed from one bush to another, and back around in a manner that mimicked fighting off multiple enemies. The devilish plants combusted into flames due to residual heat forced at them by the wave of the boy's hand.

 _"I'm h...a...p...p...y..."_

A round seed pod remained intact on the ground which Ness examined for a moment before pulling out his lucky baseball bat. He tossed the pod up in the air and smash hit the cone as it descended. The dried seed flew up into the sky, further and further away.

 _"I feel g...o...o...d..."_

The pod was almost impossible to make out when Ness pointed his finger at pod and shouted, "PK THUNDER!" The light fast bolt struck the seed with deathly accuracy, banishing its remains to the wind.

 _"...I'm so sad..."_

Letting out a deep breath, Ness examined his hands and contemplated the progress he'd made. It had taken him a long time to master abilities which hadn't come natural to him. Why had he done it though? Ever since the defeat of Giygas the world had been at peace.

 _"Ness..."_

but…

 _"...Ness, Ness, Ness, Ness, Ness"_

With a hand to his forehead Ness tried to shake off a sick feeling. It always started the same; a prickling of self doubt in his mind which inevitably manifested in the pit of his stomach as something not right with the world. He sighed feeling the need to keep pushing and extended his hands to his side "PK ROCKIN!" Dirt and Stone were kicked up all around him and spread through the dunes like a shockwave.

The sun set for the day and Ness sat beside a camp fire with a strip of beef roasting above it. In his struggles to push himself as hard as he could, he found himself both mentally and physically drained. Ness absently stared into the flames while waiting for his supper to heat.

" _You don't have to always be so stubborn you know?" Paula half heartedly scolded Ness for hurting himself while training._

" _Well… It's not like I have much else to do around here…" Ness quipped in his own defense._

" _That's not true, there is a lot to do, a lot to see! You don't have to take your responsibilities so seriously all the time," Paula leaned over and stared directly into Ness's eyes, "You need to also have fun every once in a while otherwise what's the use of saving the world?"_

 _Ness tried to remain serious, but the quirky expression on Paula's face cracked his defenses and he laughed, "Maybe you're right."_

 _"Why don't we take a break from all this and have a little fun? Just for a little while?" Paula urged him with a hopeful tone._

" _That… that sounds nice…" Ness scratched his head and looked off to the distance; everything seemed to be getting darker, "…But… I'm sorry I just don't think it would be a good idea right now."_

 _With a sigh Paula turned to leave, "I understand."_

 _Ness held a hand out to the girl, "Paula, I don't mean to…"_

 _Paula made a quarter turn and looked over her shoulder to wink at Ness, "Don't worry, you know I…"_

 _Gulping down his nervousness, Ness pressed, "You…?"_

 _Closing her eyes Paula grinned widely, "You know!" She turned back around and ran off in the other direction._

 _Ness sighed and scratched his head. He turned to leave as well, however the moment he blinked after twisting his body everything around him had changed. His hands and clothes were covered in blood. The atmosphere around him screamed of war. In the distance the painful cries of children echoed over the torn land, silenced only momentarily by the overwhelming sounds of booming explosions._

 _Stumbling forward, Ness tried to make sense of it all. Following the trail of blood that soiled him led to a body lying nearby. Ness's eyes widened, his pupils narrowed as closely licking flames dimly lit a torn martial arts gi and a pulled back ponytail along with the crimson pool of blood they resided in._

"AHH!" Ness shook his head and found himself breathing heavily. He was still sitting on the ground staring at his campfire, though his food was now burnt on one side. He continued to stare blankly as the flames charred the skin of his meal black on the underside.

Once in check and composed, Ness pulled his dinner from the make shift spit and swung his hand violently across the fire hitting it with PK Freeze, dousing it immediately.

Dawn peeked across the horizon the next morning finding Ness still walking down a long empty road. Forcing his way swiftly past anything which stood in his way Ness made it to Pity City by early afternoon.

The people of the town gave the boy with droopy eyes sympathetic glances as he dragged his bag across the street. It was unusual that he dreamt of his friends so vividly, especially something that wasn't a memory. He was almost positive he was just being paranoid, but he had to make sure. Ness found a drug store and hauled everything inside. He slid over to the payphone and leaned against the wall to support himself. It took a moment to sift through his sandy pockets and fish out a dollar. Another moment was used simply staring at the contraption in front of him in attempt to decide what exactly he was trying to prove and what would be the best way to put himself at ease.

Without clear direction in Ness's mind his fingers autonomously began to insert money and instinctively found themselves dialing Paula's number. The phone rang. It rang again. The phone rang two more times before the clicking sound of the receiver being picked up was heard and a young girl's voice spoke, "Polestar Preschool, how can I help you?"

The first thing Ness noticed was the lack of any joy in Paula's voice, "Paula, it's me…"

Silence came over the line for several moments, "…Ness?"

Though it seemed pointless to confirm, he did anyway, "Yeah…"

Again there was silence for a moment, "You sound exhausted."

Ness's lips almost curled into a grin, Paula had always picked up on people's subtleties so easily, "I guess I am, but don't worry about that."

Ness could practically feel Paula shaking her head, "Where are you calling from? I've never seen this area code before."

"I'm a little far from you guys, I'm in some country called New Morel," Ness shook his head remembering this wasn't just a social call, "Listen Paula… is everything alright?"

Ness could have sworn he heard Paula's voice trembling on the other side, "I don't believe you Ness…"

Starting to feel anxious and worried, Ness was quick to push, "Paula? What's wrong?"

"No one has heard from you in almost a year… and you choose today to call…" Paula's voice was cracking even more over the phone.

Sighing, Ness tried to apologize, "Paula, I'm sorry, I know you worry about me, but I," Ness paused to collect his thoughts for a moment, "There have been things going through my head that I had to figure out on my own which is why I had to call you. So now I need to know, what do you mean by today? What's going on?"

Over the phone line it sounded as if Paula may have actually been crying, "Ness, I just found out yesterday…"

"What is it? What did you find out?" Ness was urging her to speak while trying to remain as patient as he could.

"It's Poo… Ness… He's dead…" the receiver fell from Ness's hand as he slumped against the wall. The plastic phone receiver clanked loudly against the tile floor and caused the other store patrons to startle and look at the boy who seemed frozen and pale with a cold stare of shock affixed at nothing.

"Ness… Are you there…?" The dangling receiver was barely audible from the ground.

Ness grabbed onto the cord and pulled the phone back to his ear, "Sorry… Yeah I'm here." The images of his recent dream which had forbade him sleep flashed through his mind again, "What," Ness practically interrupted himself while swallowing nervously, "What happened to him?"

Paula was quiet, as if debating whether or not to divulge anymore to Ness in his current state, "He was murdered."

Ness's eyes squeezed shut and he slowly slid down the wall. He kept the phone pressed against his head, "How… how could someone have killed Poo? I don't get it, there isn't any reason for it and he was so strong."

"…I don't know…" Paula sniffed. Ness shook off the shock and tiredness from his system. The thought crossed his mind that Paula might be in the same position on the other end of the line needing Ness to be strong for her. "I was called last night and told that the Dalaam Royal Guard are investigating it… but right now they don't have any leads…"

Finally having regained his composer, Ness brushed his face and pushed himself from the floor, "Paula, I'm coming."

"What?" Paula sounded shocked.

"I'm coming to see you, I'm going to pick you up and then we're going to Dalaam. We might be able to see what the normal guards can't." Ness spoke as confidently as he could muster, "We'll make sure whoever did this is caught!"

Paula's voice came out in a muffled tone of agreement, "When will you be here?"

"In just a few minutes, I just need to charge up a teleport," Ness concentrated on Twoson and tried opening a teleportation gate across space. The air in the drugstore began to expand as invisible astral energies circled around Ness's body. With the energy required to create a planar rift almost at hand, Ness felt a sudden snap. A splitting headache struck his frontal lobe with a sharp jab that almost brought the boy to his knees.

"Ness?! Are you alright?" Ness realized he must have made some painful noise into the phone.

Rubbing his temples Ness responded, "I'm fine Paula… just low on energy I guess…" On the other side of the line it sounded as if Paula was scoffing at him.

"You've been overdoing it again haven't you? You need to stop and actually get some rest," Paula spoke to him with a mother's authority, "You go check yourself into a hotel and get some sleep. We'll go to Dalaam tomorrow."

Ness couldn't help but half way smile at Paula's tone, "Alright, but be expecting me early in the morning."

"Okay Ness… We'll talk more when you get here." Paula's tone had a sense of finality about it.

In a way Ness really wanted to keep talking to her, but he knew the sooner he rested and got going the better, "Yeah, okay. Then we'll talk more soon. Bye."

"Bye Ness." They both hung up the phone from their respective ends.

Ness caught the sideways glances that were being thrown at him and sighed. He hauled his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the store counter. The attendant looked him up and down appraisingly. When it became apparent the man wasn't going to be the first to speak Ness asked, "Do you carry any headache pain killers?"

"Just a moment," the man almost nervously sifted through the shelves of drugs behind the counter.

As Ness waited he became more and more aware of stares affixed on his back. Looking over his shoulder he noticed several elderly people rather transfixed on him. Trying his best to mask any overt agitation from his voice, he addressed them, "Is there something I can help you with?"

An older woman who looked not at all amused took a step closer, "Are you one of them sciernetic kids?"

The tired look on Ness's face contorted to a new look of confusion, "A what?"

"Ahem," a man cleared his throat to pull Ness's attention and then pointed a television hanging from the ceiling.

Weary indigo eyes turned to look at the screen and saw the headline "Psikinetic Violence Escalates in Stereotoli" and an anchor could be heard over the low volume saying, "...fied themselves inside the department store. Law enforcement has been unable to approach due to the strange ice beam like powers at these individuals' disposal..."

Ness turned back to the crowd eyeing him expectantly and tried to gauge their expressions before simply shrugging with a response of, "I don't know?"

The people seemed unimpressed, "You better watch yourself." They went back about their business as the attendant brought a small bottle of pills to the register.

"That'll be Seven thirty five." Ness paid the man and pocketed the pills.

"Thanks," With a listless push, Ness left the store and walked down a few blocks of the town until he came upon the hotel.

Within ten minutes Ness was in a hotel room. He casually dumped his desert gear on the floor and stripped his clothes. The drapes were nice and thick and would serve to keep the evening sun out of the room quite well. Too tired for a shower after walking for nearly two days straight he popped the bottle cap off his new painkillers and swallowed four pills.

Within a few moments afterward Ness fell into a drug induced dreamless sleep. The type of rest that isn't truly restful. The type of sleep that despite being asleep for longer than normal one still awakens from exceptionally fatigued.

As Ness's eyes opened the bedside clock indicated the entirety of the night had come and gone. To Ness it almost felt as if he had simply blinked and opened his eyes to a different time then when he had closed them.

Still exceptionally groggy, the fifteen year old pushed himself up from the bed and decided to finally take that shower. As he turned the shower knobs he realized he wasn't sure how he was able to sleep at all with several days of desert grunge clinging to his body. He set the temperature cold and stood directly in the spray to help him wake up.

Ness hadn't been able to think much of it the day before after speaking with Paula, but as his mind became slightly more cognitive with each moment of water running over his face and the true depth of the news was able to sink in.

A hand went to Ness's face as he shivered. His mind finally began to play through the many memories he shared with Poo, his comrade, his friend. The older boy had been surprisingly powerful and loyal from the very moment they met. Not only had Poo trained himself rigorously in the usage of his PSI abilities, but he conditioned his body in some of the most difficult martial arts of the world on a daily basis. Poo was always on guard, always ready, always able.

If someone had murdered Poo then there could be no doubt that this foe was incredibly formidable. Anger swelled up inside Ness as he looked up from his hands and rushed through the rest of his shower.

A renewed focus drove Ness as he reequipped; he shoved his desert clothes into his backpack and pulled out a white baseball shirt with a red collar and sleeves, as well as a red baseball cap with a white bill. He clasped a cloth belt over his blue jeans and marched back to the hotel lobby. He tossed the key onto the counter without breaking his pace as he exited the hotel.

It was still rather early in the morning after all, not even six. The streets were still empty. There would be no problem gaining the momentum necessary for a traditional teleport out here today. The few clouds in the sky were clearing from the morning overcast further emphasizing Ness's sense of focus.

With a last breath Ness made sure his backpack and equipment were all properly strapped to his body. Without any further hesitation he began to run. After only a few great strides he was moving far faster than normal human muscles could hope to replicate. Energy began building in front him, sparking brightly, as he concentrated on Twoson. The air before him tore open as he ran straight through and skid to a halt instantaneously finding himself standing on the main road of the familiar Eagleland town.

The streets here were empty as well, though again not that he expected people to be out at this hour. Up the street from where his teleport had left him was the familiar preschool. Only the outline could be seen from here stood; as he approached that familiar feeling returned to the pit of his stomach.

He had thought that after not seeing Paula in nearly a year that his biggest challenge would be the apology.

" _It's not right…"_

As the school began to come into focus certain details on it quickly became apparent.

" _not right…"_

The sign over the front of the house was barely hanging on from one side. Ness began to run.

" _not right…"_

Once closer Ness could see the windows were also mostly shattered.

"… _Ness"_

"PAULA!" Ness yelled as he burst in through the door. The inside was a mess. All around there were signs of a fight. Some of the furniture was burnt, other pieces were frozen. Ness reached down and touched the singed carpeting, "It's still hot…"

"… _It hurts"_

It was obvious whatever happened hadn't been that long ago. "Mister and Missus Polestar, are you here, can you hear me?" Not once did a voice respond to his calls.

"… _it hurts…"_

After scouring through the house and finding nothing, Ness reached the second floor and the door to Paula's bedroom. Ness's hand trembled slightly as he reached for the door knob. Ness had to steady himself as terrible thoughts filled his head of unspeakable nightmares and horrors possibly being just on the other side of that door. Needing to know, he pushed the door open.

The room seemed normal. Things weren't out of place and destroyed as they were in the rest of the house. Ness sighed to himself, feeling frustrated as though he wasn't getting anywhere. The more time he wasted the more difficult it would be to find Paula now.

About to give up on the room, Ness flipped on the light switch and was startled by a hissing sound. It was faint but he had definitely heard something. Still nothing seemed out of place between these walls, but Ness took a more thorough look around.

After a quick search across both sides of the bed and around the few other bits of furniture, Ness still couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Still he felt strange in the room. With a shrug Ness turned off the light and closed the door behind him as he left.

Several seconds of silence passed in the room but the façade was shattered when the door was slammed open and Ness flipped the light switch on again. With the lights on there were several shadows remaining on the wall which hadn't been there before, "PK FLASH!"

Potentially the last intact window in the building was blown out in the same moment as a brilliant light from the inside shone through its panes.

Ness grit his teeth as several creatures extruded and fell from the shadows on the wall. They were shorter than Ness, black smooth bodied with squiggly looking limbs, "What the heck are you guys?"

All of them only had one eye which was offset a little to the left on their heads. All eyes fixed on Ness then the one in front spoke, "Shadjin."

The moment the creature spoke its name, the lot of them lunged at Ness, surrounding him from all sides. The air around Ness began to glow as he was surrounded by energy and before the shadjins landed a hit Ness threw his arms to his sides causing the energy field to expand violently and crashed his enemies into the walls of the room.

"Where's Paula, I want answers NOW!" Ness growled impatiently. The shadjins regained their footing and stared silently back at Ness. Ness reached behind his back and slowly pulled out his baseball bat, "Last chance to just tell me."

No one made a sound. One of the shadjins to Ness's left crouched into an attacking position. Ness caught the movement and focused. The shadjins were all taken by surprise as the boy slipped into an attack almost too quickly to tell he'd even moved. With a graceful slide Ness held his bat over his shoulder. A sparkling glow came over the weapon as he swung it into the poised shadjin's head.

"SMAAAAASH!" Only a loud high pitched clash was heard as the strike landed with enough power to force the creature through the wall of Paula's bedroom.

The little monster wearily opened its eye before hitting the ground in the next room only to see Ness giving chase through the hole its body had left in the wall. It had no chance to regain its footing before a telekinetic hold latched onto it and with a wave of his hand Ness smashed it into the ceiling and then allowed gravity to bring it back to the ground with a listless splat.

Through the new hole in the wall and the open bedroom door other shadjins began pouring out from the room and dashed into action. The first Shadjin to enter Ness's striking range was unable to dodge the swinging bat to its midsection. As it crumpled forward Ness swung all the way around and brought the bat down on the creature's back sending it to the floor in a heap. Lifting a hand only slightly from the handle of the bat, Ness pointed an open palm to the next closest shadjin, "PK Fire!" and instantly the monster was engulfed in flames, it dropped from its attack and began rolling in an attempt to put itself out.

The remaining four became airborne in a tactic to tackle Ness together. Indigo eyes narrowed as Ness quickly calculated their trajectory, "PK THUNDER!" With deathly accuracy the lightning bolt rapidly bounced from one shadjin to another knocking all four of them back with a single move. With a multitude of plops, the shadjins fell to the ground.

"Let's try this again," the shadjins propped themselves up weakly on their squiggly elbows, "Where is Paula?"

A few of the shadjins looked back and forth to each other before the one who spoke before replied, "The girl was taken."

"By who?!" Ness demanded immediately.

The little creature was slow to respond and Ness was about to take another intimidating step forward, "A being too powerful, shadjin could not watch."

"So you're not associated with whoever did this? Then why are you here?" Ness relaxed his posture, the shadjins appeared to have tamed a bit.

"We shadjin followed the chaos, the aura of chaos was strong in this house," A shadow fell over Ness's eyes.

 _"...I feel g...o...o...d..."_

Ness leaned directly over the speaking shadjin, "What did this being look like?"

 _"...friends..."_

The shadjin blinked a few times, "tall, barely able to stand in this room, smooth and featureless, but silver."

 _"I'm h...a...p...p...y..."_

"It's happening again," After taking a few steps back, Ness covered his mouth as the waves of nausea became overwhelming.

 _"...Ness"_

"Why?" The shadjins began backing away as Ness felt the room spinning.

 _"Ness, Ness, Ness, Ness"_

"How did I fail?" Ness's squeezed tears from his eyes as he tipped and he fell to the ground. His conscious thought process ceased.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Well, in this chapter I was basically attempting to set the mood for the story. Most people are already aware the stories I write can get a little... dark. And as was pointed out to me, the Earthbound section tends to be rather cheerful. So I'm not sure exactly how this story is going to be received. I'm hoping for some feedback to give me an idea how I should forge through this one. When I come up with the tone for my stories I usually set up a playlist of songs that I play on repeat. For this chapter I put together a playlist that includes selective songs from the Smash Bros Brawl collection, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, and various Murray Gold / Ben Foster tracks from the scores of Doctor Who and Torchwood. So I can assure you that my plans for this story do not take place in a hunky dory golden age world. Not to say there won't be happy moments in this story, but they'll most likely be spread and mostly later than sooner.

So my question is for those who read through this chapter, did I spark any interest, or should I scrap and go work on something else? I feel excited about this project, so I hope to hear back from some of you!

'Till next time!


	2. Consequence of Choice

I almost didn't make it, but I've got a second chapter of Exposed to Madness here for everyone!

First I want to thank those who dropped a review for the first chapter. Seeing as how Earthbound is such an old game and my shonen-ai stories don't tend to do that well anyway I wasn't sure what kind of a response to expect. Five reviews though is definitely awesome in my book though!

So BIG thank you to PsiKid, Nessie-DoMiSol, Chimera the Chimera, The-EverLasting-Ash and Erika Extasy! I immortalize you all here!

This is definitely one of the most loosely organized stories I've ever written. I don't know if that will end up being a good thing or a bad thing, but it is interesting for sure. A lot of the happenings in this chapter just came out on their own. So I'm now looking forward to how this story will end up myself.

I guess all that means that this is now my official project and will continue for a while, haha! I'm going to do my best to keep to my tradition of weekly updates, I'm sure I'll miss a few but I will do my best.

Thanks again for the early support, and I hope I can make a story that you guys can continue to enjoy!

On to the story then!

* * *

There was a patter sound of water drips. It gave the serene imagery of ripples tracing outward along a smooth fluid surface.

A groan escaped Ness's mouth. It was dark in the room, and before his eyes could focus a wet cloth was draped over his eyes, "You're awake finally?"

"Huh?" Ness asked groggily, "Where am I?"

"Shhh," The voice soothed him, "Everything is alright, we're in Twoson now; we're at my house."

"Paula," Ness breathed out a sigh of relief now having recognized her voice. His throat went slightly dry as he heard her giggle cutely in the darkness, "Paula? Are you alright?"

Paula hummed in affirmation, "Thanks to you, you saved me remember?"

"I didn't do anything," Ness spoke somewhat nervously.

"Of course you did!" Paula was so full of life and energy, even without seeing her face, her voice radiated with it.

"I…" Ness cut himself off as he tried to remember the past few days and found his memory still a bit fuzzy.

"You pushed yourself so hard, and you did it all by yourself didn't you? You're very brave," Ness was appreciative of the darkness in the room as he felt a warm blush coming over his cheeks from Paula's admiration.

Unsure of how to deal with the compliments Ness added, "I didn't do anything that someone else wouldn't have done."

"You're wrong about that," Ness could feel Paula leaning closer to him, her lips were hovering over his ear as she whispered softly, "You are different, very unique and special."

Hoping to change the subject, Ness gulped and asked, "What happened then? Why am I here in bed, and why do I still feel kind of funny?"

Paula put her hand over the cloth and rubbed Ness's forehead gently, "You must not have stopped to rest much over the last few days; you had a look about you when I saw you, tired yet determined. I knew you'd come back for me soon. And when you did we escaped. You were trying to rush straight back here when we saw a strange little UFO that started following us. It caught us by surprise when it fired a beam at me but you jumped in the way. We beat it but the beam gave you a cold and you passed out. We've had you resting here since."

"That's…" Ness's mind was drawing a blank as he took in the information.

The hand lifted from Ness's forehead and pealed back the cloth slightly and allowed his eyes to finally open and meet Paula's, "I've sensed you for so long, but I'm so happy to finally meet you in person Ness. I'm glad that if I'm going to help save the world that it will be with someone like you."

"Me too…" Ness closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply. He opened his eyes to a completely different room, "…I never said it, but I was happy to meet you too."

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Consequence of Choice**

* * *

Ness sat up and took a look at his surroundings. He appeared to be on a couch in someone's living room. The room was a complete mess with what looked to be piles of junk hiding the carpet. Ness was about to try standing when he noticed a mouse running under different bits of metal in the room.

"I think I know that mouse…" Ness said aloud.

The door to the room opened, or at least it tried to. The knob turned and the door opened somewhat but ran into a collapsed pile of fans and wires which bounced the door shut again. The door tried again this time more slowly pushing against whatever was in its way. The shifting of materials into other bits of parts caused some other precariously placed stand to topple over and dump its contents in the other direction with a loud crash and shattering noises.

"You're up!" Ness blinked as a familiar face was trying to squeeze his belly through the space he'd managed to get the door to provide.

With a shake of his head and a suppressed chuckle, Ness acknowledged the man, "Hey Apple Kid, think you have enough stuff in here?"

Apple Kid shook his head but with a friendly grin replied, "You should see my workshop… or my bedroom for that matter." Apple Kid tried straddling across his parts and equipment to get across the room and closer to his guest.

"I believe you," the amused look slowly began to leave Ness's face. "Apple Kid, what happened and how did I get here? I remember trying to find Paula, but…"

Apple Kid finally made it across the room and sat down on the other side of the couch from Ness and took a deep breath. He looked at Ness for a moment as if searching for something on his face before he tried to explain, "Something happened last night. I umm… slept through it unfortunately, but several of the neighbors told the police that loud noises woke them up at about four this morning. The noises stopped though so no one reported it until around seven when people started going outside and saw all the damage. When the police got there you were the only one inside."

Ness rubbed his temples in frustration, "What happened then, how'd I end up at your place?"

"Well, you're pretty well known around here. Just to be sure the police ran your record with the Onett Police Department who attested to your outstanding citizenship and recommended they not try to detain you for some reason…" Apple Kid seemed genuinely confused by the unusual treatment Ness had received, "In any case I was called in to loan the investigators my new CSA, or crime scene analyzer, that I invented when I recognized you and was asked to take you with me until you woke up."

"Thanks Apple Kid, I guess I owe ya again," Ness nodded in gratitude.

Another hardy laugh came from the other side of the couch, "The boy who saves the universe owes me something? I kind of doubt that. You are welcome though."

Shadows yet again grew across Ness's eyes, "Did I really save the universe though?"

The laughing halted and changed to a look of confusion obviously caused by the serious tone Ness had adopted, "Of course you did, why would you ask that?"

Ness averted his glance for a moment while he thought, "I think something bad is happening. All the things that should have gone away after we defeated Giygas, things are starting to happen again the same way."

"And you think that has something to do with the Polestar's disappearance?" Ness nodded silently in confirmation. "This can't be the only thing going on; last I heard you had all but disappeared on poor Paula."

Ness's head swayed from side to side, "I haven't felt right since the fight against Giygas, Apple Kid. Everyone tells me I'm just paranoid after a fight against something so evil. But I've spent the last year wondering around the world to places I've never been trying to become stronger still because something inside my head is telling me more is coming. Then all this happens; Poo is murdered, Paula goes missing, and I think the armies of Giygas might be involved."

Apple Kid blinked in mild shock from Ness's statement, "You think Giygas might actually still be alive?"

"I don't know what to think..." Ness spoke as he dropped his head into his hands.

A look of sympathy crossed Apple Kid's face as he gazed down upon the savior of the universe, "Obviously something is happening, but I don't think it's a good idea to go and jump the gun just yet. First you've got to figure out your next move and gather more information before coming to any brash conclusions."

Ness looked up and shallowly nodded, "I came back this morning to pick up Paula, we were going to go together to investigate Poo's murder." Ness closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. He tried to clear the thoughts from his head and focus only on Paula. A little meditation was all it took for Ness's mind to channel the sounds of the universe; an ethereal wavelength of strangeness, reflection, and confusion but also of power, beauty, and understanding. Ness's brow furrowed as he concentrated harder.

Several long moments passed; yet Apple Kid waited patiently, somehow able to tell that Ness was extending his mind beyond his body. Something wasn't right however; it became obvious as the expression on Ness's face was growing frustrated.

"Where are you...?" Ness's voice came out as a whisper with an edge of strain. Sweat was forming on his forehead when his eyes snapped open, "Why?"

Apple Kid cleared his throat noisily to try and pull Ness from his trance. He waited for Ness to look his way before asking, "What did you see?"

"It's weird; I can sense Paula which means she's alive. But it's so weak I can't tell where she is. Whenever she was in trouble before I'd be able to hear her. She would call for help in a way and I'd just _know_ where to find her. This time is different," Ness looked up with both confusion and mild fear reflected in eyes, "It's like something is in the way. Something, or maybe someone even, has put up a wall between us."

"So you can't figure out where she is by feeling out her PSI, there has to be another way to find her," trying to stay hopeful, Apple Kid started thinking through a few possibilities, "She doesn't own a mobile phone that we could track. We could try satellite imaging! No… we would have had to be checking them during the time of abduction… If only there was some kind of measurable disturbance we could home in on."

Realization struck Ness and his eyes widened, "Monsters!"

After a few confused blinks Apple Kid responded with, "What?"

"There were monsters called shadjins inside Paula's house!" Ness enthused, "They were there because of a strong aura of chaos. Whoever took Paula is emitting some kind of chaotic aura that is attracting monsters. So if we could find out where there have been a lot of monsters gathering…"

Apple Kid nodded catching on, "Then we would know where the most likely place they went is, brilliant!"

A glimmer of hope appeared over Ness's face, "Have you heard anything about monsters overrunning towns or anything like that lately?"

"Shouldn't be too hard to find out," Apple Kid jumped up from the couch and tried running to a computer desk on the other side of the room. He tripped on a random metal bar and fell into a pile of aluminum pans which bounced and rolled across the room.

Ness grimaced at the sight, "Are you okay?"

Apple Kid rubbed his nose, "Fine, fine, I'm used to that sort of thing…" Finally reaching his desk, he began a web search.

Several moments of silence passed as Apple Kid typed away busily. Ness's nervousness grew by the second, "Found anything that looks like it might be it?"

Eyes never leaving the screen, Apple Kid responded, "Monster activity has been on a good decline over the last two years which should be right. It doesn't look like," the round scientist stopped as his eyes skimmed across a few headlines, "Hold on a second. It looks like there has been a big monster problem that just started a few days ago. It's on a continent far from here so people in Eagleland haven't really been paying attention to it. But the problem has become severe enough to warrant mass evacuations in a country called Chevia."

Ness hopped across the junk in the room to get a better look at the computer screen, "Where is Chev… Chrrr… yeah?"

Apple kid brushed his fingers against his goatee, "It's a long way off, far to the central north region of the other continent. I don't think you've ever been anywhere remotely close to it."

A low grumble escaped Ness's throat as he crossed his arms, "So I can't teleport anywhere close by, I'll have to find another way."

"There's more to worry about as well; reports from the area are claiming some of the monsters to be huge and powerful. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go to a place like that alone. While you were zoned out a bit ago were you able to feel anyone else?" Apple Kid asked looking for a little more hope in their situation.

Ness shook his head, "I couldn't sense Poo at all, so he must really be..." Ness trailed off slightly before continuing, "And Jeff well, he's not a psikinetic. He's unique for sure, but there's no way I could find him on my own. Last I heard he was supposed to be working with his dad and you."

Apple Kid shrugged, "That was over a year ago. I don't know where either of them are now to tell you the truth."

Ness cocked his head to the side as another pang of worry washed over him, "Why not, what happened?

After scratching the back of his head, Apple Kid tried to explain, "Jeff and his dad, they ummm... they had issues. And then something happened. Jeff showed up one day and he was a mess. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong. His dad though either didn't notice or chose to ignore it and kept pushing him about something they were building not working right. Doctor Andonuts blamed Jeff, Jeff blamed his dad, and after a big fight Jeff just walked off. A few days later the old doc closed up shop and disappeared himself. I haven't seen either one of them since."

"Oh man…" Ness frowned and looked around the room. "I had been hoping that Doctor Andonuts would be able to help with transportation again like he did before, but now we have no clue where he or Jeff might be." The two were quiet for a moment, a sad look crossed Ness's face, "I should have kept better contact with everyone, Jeff was always there for me during our travels but when he needed someone I wasn't there…"

Apple Kid didn't know what to say, "Jeff's a strong kid… I'm sure he's found a way to get by besides living out of trashcans, though as much as I wish I did I'm afraid I don't know where he is or how to contact him."

Ness nodded and sighed. Eventually Ness's gaze reached Apple Kid again, "I don't suppose there's any chance you might have a flying machine around here would you?"

A hardy laugh escaped Apple Kid as he shook his head, "I'm flattered you think so highly of me, but I never learned near enough from the doc to be able to build anything like his old skyhopper." The man quieted and stared at the ground for a moment before resolving an inner conflict and looking back up at Ness, "Though I might know of someone who can help you."

"You do?!" Ness lit up immediately, "Great! Who is it and where can I find them?"

"I don't actually know the person," Apple Kid tried to explain, "But there have been a lot of science articles lately coming from a scientist who has been garnering a lot of recognition in the field over the last year. I'm not sure exactly if he'd be willing to help you or not, rumor has it that he's a little shut off from the world. But he has a compound a few miles north of Summers along the coast where he lives and works. I believe his name is Doctor Zambrosia."

"Doctor Zambrosia huh?" Ness took in the information and nodded, "Well I won't know unless I go and talk to him. I can get to Summers easy enough."

Apple Kid held out a hand before Ness could leave, "I still don't think it's a good idea for you to be heading into a dangerous situation alone."

"You don't need to worry about me," Ness gave a thumbs up motion with his right hand, "I never stopped training over the last two years. I'm ready for whatever I'm up against this time. What's going to make this hard is that I can't be in two places at once."

"What do you mean?" It was an unusual statement so Apple Kid pressed on.

"Like I said, Paula and I were supposed to be investigating Poo's murder, but now rescuing Paula before she gets hurt has to be my top priority, but it's possible the two are connected or they might not be, and I owe it to Poo to set things right for what was done to him..." A pained look crossed Ness's face but it was obvious he was resolute in his decision, "I just… I feel terrible… I should have been there for Poo, I'm his friend and I should have been by his side to help him through whatever he was facing! And now I'm not even tracking down the culprit..."

"I can see how that would weigh on your conscience," Apple Kid spoke in a lower tone more suited to the somber aura Ness exuded. A thought crossed the inventor's mind and his eyes slowly travelled back to meet his house guest's, "What if..." a warm smile crossed Apple Kid's face, "I might not be able to help much, but," Apple Kid turned and opened up his desk drawer, pulling out a few items, "My latest invention, would it ease your spirits a bit if I were to go to Dalaam myself and help the investigation with my CSA?"

A weight visibly lifted from Ness's shoulders, "That would be amazing of you if you're sure you're alright with getting all the way over there."

"Don't worry about the travel, I might not be able to move about as fast as you but I do want to help you guys as much as I can too. So if finding clues to what happened to Poo is something I can do then I'm going to do it! I want you to take this also," Reaching into the pile of gadgets in his desk drawer, Apple Kid pulled out a handheld device and holster and gave it to Ness.

"What is it?" Ness asked as he examined the smooth surface.

"I call it a Sat-Tab; it connects via satellite signals to access information. I already have it set to monitor certain news feeds and it will also allow us to message each other back and forth kind of like using text messages," Apple Kid flipped a switch on the side and the screen flickered to life, "Satellite signals can be finicky, so it can lag a bit, but it's definitely loads better than those old receiver phones."

Ness ran his finger along the haptic screen and watched as the device flipped through news articles about cooking, unusual weather, and psikinetic uprisings on the screen, "This is really nice Apple Kid! Yeah, you have really improved in your inventing skill since the old receiver phone." Ness cleared his throat nervously and quickly added, "Not that it wasn't nice too, but not being able to make calls did get annoying."

Another boisterous laugh filled the room, "No offense taken. And your Sat-Tab already has my ID saved so you can message me anytime as well as save new addresses for people you want to email."

"Great," Ness holstered and pocketed the tab, "Thanks for everything Apple Kid, you're always a huge help. Then if we've got our plan figured out I should get going."

"If it wasn't for you guys I never would have been able to work alongside of Doctor Andonuts and learn all the great things I did!" The large man patted Ness on the back, "I'll get going myself as soon as I get my CSA back from the local police and I'll let you know if I find anything."

With a nod Ness turned to leave, "Alright, then there's only one last thing I'm going to need your help with before I go."

"Oh?" Apple Kid stood from his desk.

Ness looked back over his shoulder and pointed ahead of him, "That's the front door right?"

Apple Kid followed Ness's gesture and noticed another pile of junk which was pinning the door shut, "Ah! Yes, let's do something about that."

After a few minutes the door finally opened to the outside world. Ness exited the building and lined up on the street, "Summers, Summers, Summers, Summers," Ness repeated liked a mantra while building his concentration.

Apple Kid watched as Ness began his sprint. The high pitched hum caused by the energy build up around Ness's body quickly moved further and further away until a bright flash of light similar to an explosion reached his eyes, then all went silent.

A few passersby were startled and stopped to turn and look in the direction of the light and noise but Ness was already long gone. Feeling grateful that he was "in the know" compared to the other common townsfolk, Apple Kid continued to grin to himself and returned to his work.

Waters of the beach moved in and out across the sand as the scree of seagulls could be heard while they flew in flocks overhead. The few people on the beach were content to relax and simply soak in the rays of the sun.

The serene atmosphere was temporarily interrupted by a loud burst like pop as a blue portal opened allowing a boy to fly through it. Ness skid to a stop, his feet dug into the sand nearly leaving a burn trail behind him. Once he was stopped the hole in space closed behind him.

Ignoring the stares of the people nearby, Ness looked up into the sky for a moment to use the sun as his orientation guide, "So north, that way."

Ness climbed up to the stone walkway above the beach level.

" _You sell Magic cakes?" Paula asked excitedly_

 _The woman at the food cart smiled at the three of them, "I don't know who told you, but you came from far away just to eat my Magic Cake?"_

 _Jeff looked skeptical, "What is it that makes them magical?"_

 _The woman continued to smile sweetly, "I used all leftover materials. This is a very special Magic cake!"_

" _That… hardly makes any sense!" Jeff pointed out._

" _We'll try some!" Paula excitedly bought everyone a slice of the Magic cake._

 _The woman handed each of them a plate and continued to smile, "Go ahead boys, I'm telling you these cakes are just dreamy!"_

 _Ness and Jeff shrugged toward each other and ate their cake alongside Paula. They sat against the pier and polished off their sweets._

 _Always the inquisitive one, Jeff asked, "So, do either of you feel any magic maybe?"_

" _Nope," Ness seemed almost disappointed as he threw the plate away._

" _Nothing… yet…" Paula stared out at the ocean_

" _Paula? What's… wrong…" Ness aborted his question as the ocean in front of him began to change colors. The ocean, the sky, the buildings, everything began bending and waving and dramatically changing hues. Looking down at his own hands Ness could have sworn his skin was changing colors._

 _Somehow Ness found himself moving toward the shoreline, but he didn't feel like he was walking. Clouds were moving in off the ocean, pinkish clouds, and Ness watched as a world of floating mountains opened up before his eyes._

 _When Ness's eyes opened again he was able to see more clearly. It was morning and he was still in a heap on the sandy beach. He looked up and saw Paula still out cold lying in a beach chair while Jeff was lying beside him with a protective grasp around his waist._

 _There was a flash of light and then footsteps approached. Ness was still rather listless as he turned his head to see who was approaching. The slightly older boy in karate garb and a ponytail kneeled down beside him, "You must be Ness!"_

 _Ness couldn't answer and the boy extended a hand to help Ness to his feet, which woke Jeff and Paula up in the process, "My name is Poo. I am the one who will fight beside you. I am the servant of Ness. I will obey Ness. Ness! My life is in your hands."_

 _Everyone seemed a little confused, but somehow Ness understood that they all shared a bond together, that these were the four chosen to save the world. So he smiled, "Thank you Poo. Your life is precious so please don't go saying things so hastily."_

 _Poo laughed, "I'm actually quite happy being able to dedicate my life to something far greater than myself."_

Ness tried shaking off the sullen emotions and continued walking through town. He was almost out of town when an angry yell pulled him out of his walking trance. Looking in the direction of the yelling Ness saw a small group of people running back behind a few buildings. The yelling was definitely coming from back there.

Part of Ness's mind told him to mind his own business and that he had more important things to be worried about.

A sharp cry then echoed over the yells, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Crap," Ness finally muttered under his breath and silently ran in to the alley way after the group to see what was going on.

"What part of you don't belong here do you not understand you fuckin freak?!" With his back against the wall Ness peaked around the corner. He could make out the backs of at least eight larger and muscular boys. Most of them were wearing beanie hats and sunglasses as well as matching black wife beaters.

"Stop it! Please just go away!" The higher pitched voice shouted again though this time sounding a bit more pitiful.

As Ness looked over a few of the intimidating thugs he saw they had another boy cornered against a wall. The boy was much smaller than the others; he was maybe twelve years old at the most.

"If you wanted to be left alone then you shouldn't have become one of them psycho freaks you little dickwad," The entire gang seemed to be sneering as their point man continued the verbal assault.

"I can't help the way I was born!" The kid shot back with as much bravery as he could muster.

"Yeah, well help this!" The larger boy pulled his fist back ready to reel into his young target's face. A yoyo wound around his wrist and kept his fist in place, "What the fuck?!"

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ness demanded aggressively.

A few of the thugs turned around and faced the intruder of their action, "Just a little psi-bashing bro. If you're not gonna join then you should leave while you can."

Ness grit his teeth, "Psi-bashing? That has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What has that kid ever done to any of you? Did he rob you or hurt someone close to you?"

The gang narrowed their eyes at Ness realizing he wasn't going to leave them alone, "Not yet, but you've been watching the news haven't you? It's only a matter of time before he grows up and starts trying to take over the world and shit."

"You guys are going to leave him alone," Ness demanded coldly.

"I think we got a psi-lover bros," the leader flexed his muscle taught and pulled back on his arm that was still wrapped by the yoyo. Though he put all his weight which was much greater than Ness's into the pull, the red capped boy didn't budge.

"You guys have no idea what you're getting yourselves into," Ness warned briefly before his yoyo began spinning on its own. It wound itself back around its cord, knocking the guy on the head twice pretty hard before returning to Ness's hand.

The knocks to the older boy's head were enough to disorient him and cause him to stumble around. While the others stared in confusion the yoyo came back straight on knocking another boy on the head sending him immediately to the ground.

The boy on the ground clutched at the forming knot on his scalp while crying about the pain. The standing thugs were about to move in on Ness when more footsteps echoed from the alley entrance. A boy about Ness's age with messy almost silver hair wearing a wrinkled untucked dress shirt and black jeans slowly approached the group, "So this is where you've been hiding."

The small boy smiled widely at the approaching stranger, "Masys! You're here!"

The leader of the gang pointed at Masys angrily, "Get him first!"

Masys grinned as the lot of ruffians rushed him, "P… K… WHIRL!" The wind around Masys picked up greatly and began circulating in the small space of the alleyway. The force of the wind became greater and greater until the approaching thugs couldn't step through it. They were all nearly lifted from the ground and thrown back several meters into a wall.

The small boy took full advantage of his assailants being downed and ran across the alley to stand behind Masys.

"Are you alright?" Masys asked the kid once he was close enough.

The boy nodded and pointed to Ness, "Thanks to him I am."

Masys looked up as if gauging the boy when the gang started getting back up, "Damn it, don't go thinking you're all fucking cool and shit just because you got some dumb ass powers!"

A smirk crossed Masys's face, "You saying you can take me one on one, fist to fist then?"

"Damn right, I'd kick your sorry ass!" The boy jumped up to his feet, his eyes nearly blanketed by some kind of rage.

"Let's do it then, just you and me!" Masys challenged.

The larger boy wasted no time as he dashed into a fight. Ness crossed his arms wondering if he should just leave as this Masys guy seemed to have the situation under control. He was still bothered by something though.

Fist extended outward, the attacking thug pushed all his weight into the head on assault. With just a bit of a side step, Masys dodged the punch. The boy turned to face Masys but a fist was waiting for him. Masys punched the larger boy square in the jaw. With a burning anger that wouldn't be quelled the boy threw two more punches, both of which were easily dodged. Masys socked the boy in the face again with a punch that looked as if it should have dislodged the boy's nose. Before a recovery could be made, Masys followed through with a strong kick to the stomach which sent the boy back into the lineup.

"Pathetic," Masys called out then pocketed his hands. The preteen boy at his side still appeared to be anxious and nervous so he turned and started walking away, "Come on, let's leave these losers be."

With his back to the gang, Masys didn't notice one of the older teens pull out a knife from his pocket. The boy was already in sprint toward them before he began to react.

"PK FLASH!" a green surge of energy fell on the pavement in front of the charging boy and erupted into a startling light and shockwave. The light temporarily blinded everyone who had been looking at it and their eyes all seemed to be tearing over.

Masys had managed to shield his eyes; then with a tight grip on the boy beside him held out a hand pointed in the gang's direction, "P…K… FIRE!" Intense heat swirled around his open palm and launched toward the recovering group of thugs.

Sensing the power behind the attack, Ness jumped in front of the fire attack, "PK SHIELD!" A blue sphere of light formed around Ness's body which absorbed the PSI of Masys's attack and dissipated it. His glare met Masys's for a moment as the two almost appeared to be at a standoff. With a grunt Ness turned around and started shoving the thugs to their feet, "Get out of here! Come on, move it!"

Their eyes still burning, the group of conquered assailants all began stumbling away in a hurry back down the alley. Once they were all gone and out of earshot Ness turned his attention back to Masys.

"Why'd you stop me?" Masys asked coolly.

Ness grit his teeth, "You could have killed someone using an attack like that!"

An uncaring shrug from Masys followed, "They were trying to kill us in case you forgot?"

"That doesn't matter," Ness averted his gaze for a brief moment but quickly returned it undaunted.

The two seemed to be content having a silent staring contest when the smaller boy snuck his way around Masys and stood between them. He bowed courteously in front of Ness, "Thank you for saving me."

Masys scratched the back of his head and looked away, his ego slightly deflated, "Yeah, I imagine those guys would have hurt my little brother here pretty bad if you hadn't stopped them in time. So thanks for that."

Ness smiled warmly to the young one, "It's no problem."

The boy looked up and returned the smile, "It's so cool to finally meet another Psikinetic, I'm Gene Saga and this is my big brother Masys Saga."

"I'm Ness," He extended his hand to the boy in a friendly acquaintanceship gesture. As their hands made contact Gene's eyes widened and Ness was sure he felt something strange passing through them.

The boy released Ness's hand unusually quickly and took a step back from him, "You're different."

"Huh?" Ness asked confused.

"You're strong… and you've seen things, amazing and wonderful but also horrible and terrifying," Ness stared at the boy cautiously, unsure what to think about the kid's statement.

"It's his gift," Masys briefly explained while putting a hand on his brother's shoulder to try and offer him some comfort. "He can tell certain things about people."

The forlorn look left Gene's face quite suddenly and he excitedly asked, "Are you in town for long Ness?"

Ness shook his head, "I'm just passing through I'm afraid. I had almost made it all the way through town when I heard the commotion over here. I've still got a ways to go today so I should probably get to it."

"We're grateful you stopped really," Masys's tone shifted into something more serious than the cocky uncaring attitude he had displayed during the fight, "Though you should also be careful out there Ness. Forgive me for saying but now isn't the time to be playing mister nice to everyone. People are getting violent toward us psikinetics. Sometimes roughing them up a bit is the only way to really get them to leave you alone."

Ness shrugged, "Thanks, but I can deal with things my own way."

"Suit yourself," Masys sighed.

After hoisting his backpack over his shoulders again, Ness turned to the brothers one last time, "It was cool meeting you; maybe we'll run into each other again sometime."

"That would be great!" Gene called out as Ness walked away. "Take care Ness, see you again!"

It wasn't long before Ness was just a dot along the horizon fading into nothing. Again Masys placed his hand on Gene's shoulder, "What did you see?"

"So many things are in his head right now. Good things, bad things… and a voice… So much has already happened in his past," The sad look returned to the young boy's face as he leaned against his older brother for support, "But there is still so much more to come in his future."

* * *

 **End Chapter**

I just had to end a little ominously sorry. It seems to be my nature.

We're still pretty much in the story set up phase, and I apologize for that. I hope the background information coming out in these chapters is doing its job and holding a bit of interest. Please leave some more feedback and let me know what you think of the world so far.

It's late now and I'm off so…

'Till next time!


	3. Fruits of Labor

Crikes, how quickly plans can be changed when things go awry. I do apologize for falling off schedule so quickly, as much as I wish I could say I'm immune to such things, life still has a way of sticking its nose in to your business and snubbing you in different directions.

I've actually got quite a few exciting things going on, perhaps a career change which could result in some more money. I wish I got paid for writing, but that is not the case unfortunately. Some of you know I've complained before about repayment of student loans having me stressed, so I'll say again to any who didn't read the note in one of my other stories, if you're going to go to college, pay for as much of it up front as you can! Sallie Mae is evil and doesn't actually care about you, your education, or your future. It might be difficult, but if you can work your way through school you'll be worlds ahead in life when you're done.

Sorry for the rant again, anyway...

Big thank yous to everyone who has reviewed the story!

On to the story then!

* * *

Walking over loose sand always involves treading much grit. The feeling of sand and pebbles in one's shoe would wear on even the most focused of minds given enough time; inevitably resulting in an acute mental breakdown. The mind enters a state of anxiety comprised mostly of irrationality and irritation eventually leading to hallucinations involving talking sesame seeds...

A bored mind will also begin to play tricks on itself. Extreme heat doesn't help either.

Heat and mental breakdowns lead to mirages. Sometimes mirages look like zippy little UFOs. Zippy little UFOs wouldn't be flying around the desert though, that would just be silly.

"Wait... what's that?" Ness looked to the distance and wiped the sweat from his brow as his gaze attempted to pierce the transparent smoke like haze of desert heat "It looks…oh no _… shit_." The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he recognized the unpleasant structure of object approaching him.

"Couldn't that just be a mirage?" Ness turned his head slightly and noticed Jeff standing by him.

Before the impossibility or the familiarity of the scene could set in, the small UFO approached quickly and fired a beam at Ness. Ness flung himself to the side to dodge, his leg grazed by the beam just slightly. With a twist of his hand Ness began to focus psykinetic energy, "P...K..."

As if suddenly afraid of Ness, the UFO changed direction and charged toward Jeff, tackling the boy down. Ness's eyes widened as Jeff screamed as the heat from UFO's metal surface attempted to brand its alien signature into his skin. The UFO backed up just enough from Jeff for Ness to swing his arm around, "FLASH!"

The massive energy tore through the UFO and nearly disintegrated it instantaneously. Jeff watched the charred remains of the UFO blow away in the wind before falling to his knees as a groan of pain escaped his lips.

Ness took a few tentative steps closer to his friend, "You alright Jeff?"

Jeff put up a strong front and nodded, "Just... let me catch my breath."

Ness frowned sympathetically and kneeled beside Jeff. He reached out and placed his hands on Jeff's shoulders allowing his energy to flow between them. The very air around them began to cool as the reddened skin exposed through the tear on Jeff's shirt became normal again.

A confident smile crossed Ness's features, "Do you feel any better?"

Jeff looked up at Ness nervously for a moment before nodding and standing up. Jeff turned his back to Ness and dusted himself off.

The silence was confusing to Ness so he asked, "Are you sure you're alright? Let me try again..." Jeff held a hand up to stop Ness. It was at that moment Ness noticed the tears on Jeff's face, "Jeff? What's wrong?"

Jeff didn't seem to want to say anything and was taking a long moment to collect himself, "I'm sorry Ness."

Again the response only confused Ness further, "Sorry for what?"

"I'm just so... useless," speechless, Ness held a hard out towards his friend but Jeff had already moved out of his reach.

"That's not..." Ness lowered his hand as Jeff walked off into the hazy mirage and left him in his current state standing in front of the beach near Summers, "... it was never true at all."

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Fruits of Labor**

* * *

Summers was now long out sight behind Ness. He had been walking along the beach front for several good hours. Doctor Zambrosia's lab should have been close but...

Ness stopped and looked ahead, then around, dirt water and some foliage was all to be seen from where he stood as far out as to the horizon, "What gives?!" Ness grumbled frustratingly. There was a chance it was still just a little ways out, so Ness composed himself and continued his march across the beach.

Beaches were supposed to be fun. Kids love going to the beach to play in the sand and swim in the water. As people get older they tend to look off across the ocean and become mesmerized by its near infinite splendor. Presently Ness found himself simply irritated. The ground was mushy and harder to walk through than typical desert sands, the air was hot which wasn't a big deal, but the humidity made his clothes cling to his skin uncomfortably. The air was so thick with moisture it was difficult to breathe. Cloudy days in these places made a brisk hike feel more like a swim meet.

Nearly on autopilot, Ness walked across the beach with his hands in his pockets and his eyes mostly closed. Another twenty minutes of walking went by slowly. Still nothing in the area was jumping out and screaming "lab this way." There was nothing in the area which could resemble a human dwelling much less an advanced laboratory. With his teeth grit, Ness tightened the straps to his backpack and ran up the shoreline.

Keeping alert, Ness still noticed nothing to his right but water, and nothing to his left except the dense tree line and some mountainous bluffs. After a quick mile run Ness slowed to catch his breath. Past the sound of his own deep breaths Ness almost missed the stir of shifting sand. Slightly startled he turned and scanned the area. Behind him there were no tracks, nothing seemed disturbed and everything remained perfectly in place. A scowl crossed his face as he looked down and noticed that behind him even his own footsteps had disappeared into the sand.

"That's so pathetically obvious..." Ness told himself as he scratched his head. As if ignoring the situation, Ness turned and continued walking up the shoreline. Though he appeared disinterested his senses were now sharply alert to any noise or movement around him. It was only a short walk further before he heard the sand shifting behind him again.

"I don't have time for this," with an annoyed look on his face Ness turned around, "Come on out whoever you are." A few seconds passed without response, "Alright then, PK Flash!" The energy burst collided with the ground throwing a surprisingly minimal amount of sand into the air and instead caused the ground to ripple around the point of impact.

Once the ripples subsided the ground began to rise. What appeared to be eyes and a mouth opened from within the shapeless sand golem. It continued to grow taller and taller above the ground until it loomed more than twice Ness's height over him. "Well this is new..."

Scowling, the sand golem leaned over to better face Ness and in a deep and threatening voice asked, "Excuse me, can you point me in the general direction of Doctor Zambrosia's lab? "

Ness blinked feeling mostly confused by the creature's politeness, "So I'm not the only one looking for it..." Ness shrugged his shoulders and grinned at the intimidating monster, "Sorry, but I don't know."

"Shucks..." The monsters eyes turned downcast and Ness would have sworn it almost looked depressed, "I've been out here for two days looking for it. I was told it was around here somewhere, but I can't find it anywhere!"

Ness put his hands behind his head and swayed a bit, "I'm kind of in the same boat, I was told the lab was around here too but I sure don't see it."

"That sure is a shame," the monster looked to the side as if it were thinking. It was kind of a funny sight because in all honesty he seemed a little stupid. "Hey, I know! Since we're both looking for the same lab, what if we looked for it together?"

Again Ness blinked absently a few times before responding, "Sure, I guess..."

"Great!" The sand golem started sliding along the beach leaving the ground perfectly smooth behind it.

"So..." Ness tried to think of something to say to the giant creature as he walked along side it, "Why is it you're looking for the lab?"

"Oh! I'm looking for the lab because..." The monster stopped sliding and blinked a few times with a confused look on its face, "You know I've been out here in the sun looking for it for so long I think I forgot why..."

Ness couldn't help himself and buried his face in his palms. He looked through his fingers and noticed the golem looking distraught with itself. With a slight sigh, Ness patted some obscure spot on the monster that he hoped was its back, "It's alright, calm down, shh shh, no need to be upset."

"Master is going to be so mad with me! He said this was last chance and everything!" The creature was literally crying tears of dirt now.

Ness frowned for a moment, "Your master sounds like a mean guy then, who is he?"

The monster calmed for a moment, "Master? We call him Alpha. Why?"

After making a mental note Ness shook his head, "Just wondering if maybe I knew him."

Sand flew from the golems face as it shook its head, "It would be funny if you knew Master Alpha, but I don't think you would, he hasn't been around for very long."

"Hasn't been around for very long huh?" Ness's voice trailed off a bit as he thought about this information, "This 'Master Alpha', he wouldn't by chance live in a place far to the east of here on another continent would he?"

The monster nodded, "Yes! That is where I met him."

Ness tried to hide his frown as the two continued walking, "And is he strong?"

"Oh he is very strong!" The golem nodded faster, "Strong and very smart too! He came up with a bunch of plans! Though..." Ness watched the golem expectantly for a moment, hoping for some more information, "Though I can't remember any of them right now!" Ness almost fell into the sand as the golem chuckled sheepishly to itself.

"Well, I suppose there's no helping that," Ness rubbed his forehead as he collected himself. With a shrug he continued walking along side the monstrous sand creature, "Well then Mister... ummm... hey what's your name anyway?"

The golem stopped in its tracks and then looked down at Ness. Ness was taken aback for a moment by the strange glare the monster was giving him. The look in the golem's eyes quickly softened into something that almost resembled a teary state, "You care about my name? You are so nice!"

Ness chuckled and stepped back a bit, "I just don't want to keep saying 'hey you' or something like that… By the way, you can call me Ness."

With a happy beam on its face, the golem gleefully replied, "Great to meet you Ness, I'm Gark!"

Still a little nervous, Ness patted Gark again, "Likewise, Gark."

"Now let's find this lab together!" Gark cheerily lead the charge and continued on.

With a slight shrug Ness kicked off to keep up with his unusual traveling companion, "Sure, let's go."

The pair kept hiking across the sandy beach being sure to double check around any suspicious spots or large trees that might be hiding a lab behind it. "Man, I don't believe this," Ness grumbled then looked over to Gark, "I don't suppose you might have seen anything a little suspicious even if it didn't look like a lab around here?"

Gark thought it over for a moment, "Suspicious... suspicious... suspicious? Suspicious... suspicious!" Each time Gark repeated the word in a slightly different pitch until finally reaching a crescendo as if a realization or breakthrough had been made. Ness watched him excitedly hoping for some new bit of information, "Suspicious means something out of the ordinary!"

Ness plopped on to the dirt, "Oh man." As frustrating as it was dealing with Gark, it was also difficult not to laugh at the situation. "Yes, something that might have seemed a little weird?"

Gark thought for another moment and then nodded vigorously, "There's a place over by the cliffs that seemed a little weird!"

Looking up, Ness noticed the cliffs weren't too far off anyway, "Can you show me where?"

"Yup!" Ness climbed to his feet and let Gark lead the way to the base of the cliffs.

It was a short trek compared to how much they'd already been walking. As they approached Ness was able to tell something really was odd about the cliff. There was a sort of discolored stripe going up along the cliff face. Towards the base it became more apparent that the discoloration was caused by a crack in the surface of the rock.

As Ness ran over toward the cliff he almost fell down a steep slope. At the base of the mountain at this spot the ground formed a decline which went almost unnoticed due to an optical illusion formed by the angle of the ground and mountain. Looking down the slope Ness noticed a large cave entrance below ground level.

"This might be it!" Ness shouted excitedly.

"Hurray!" Gark cried in shared sentiment.

The cave was easily passable, the ceiling was tall enough for Gark, and only a few scattered rats and bugs populated the dark place. After several meters of stumbling about, a light became visible on the other side. Ness was easily able to continue his forward march with the light growing larger and brighter as he approached. The cave must have been about fifty meters across when they emerged from the exit.

In the sun again it took just a moment for Ness's eyes to readjust and start looking around. In front of him was a large domed building, "That definitely looks like a lab!" The mountains extended all the way around the area surrounding the lab like a small valley, "Like a crater," Ness hummed as he admired the site.

Gark wasn't looking so thrilled. He kept looking forward, then back, then about, and then down. Ness caught the distraught look and waited as patiently as he could for the poor golem. "It's good to finally be here," Gark spoke up, "but now I don't know what to do!"

Ness wasn't sure how to handle the situation himself, "Maybe you should just do what feels right to you?"

Gark nodded, "You're so smart, at least now I know where the lab is, I better go back to the boss and find out what I was supposed to do here and then come back! Maybe I'll see you if you're still here."

Ness sort of waved at the leaving sand golem, "Umm yeah... later."

"Good bye friend Ness!" Gark sang cheerily as he disappeared back into the tunnel.

With a slight shrug Ness turned and started walking down the path toward the lab's front door. Along the way he noticed posts and bars and platforms laid about the yard. It almost looked like a jungle gym, but Ness ignored it and remained focused on the lab in front of him.

The front door was very tall. Ness imagined it had to be that way to accommodate large pieces of equipment to enter and exit the lab. There was also a button on the side of the door that looked like it could be a doorbell, but a sign under it read "Deliveries accepted between 9AM and to 3PM".

Ness firmly pressed the button in and could hear a buzzer ringing on the inside close to the door. A few seconds later a speaker went off above the door and an older voice said, "Sorry, but it is now after our scheduled delivery hours, please come back tomorrow."

Pulling out his SatTab Ness saw that it was ten minutes after three, "Well that's strict..." Ness put the tablet away and looked up to the speaker, "I'm not here with a delivery, I need to speak with Doctor Zambrosia."

It was quiet for a moment and Ness was worried there was no microphone on this end of the door. The speaker did finally chirp again, "What is your business here today?"

"My name is Ness, and I have a favor to ask of the doctor," everything remained quiet for another moment and Ness shuffled a little nervously, "Could I maybe come in and speak with you?"

"Give me just a moment and I'll open the door for you," There was an odd tinge in the man's voice; it almost sounded like nervousness Ness thought.

About two minutes passed but then the door opened. Standing on the other side of the door was an older fellow wearing a long open lab coat with a red shirt and khaki pants underneath. His full head of gray hair was a little frizzled, but it was apparent that it had been neatly combed when the day had started. "Doctor Zambrosia?"

The old man nodded rather quietly, "So Ness is it? How can I help you?" The Doctor asked as the door closed behind them.

"I'm in a bit of a bind," Ness started, "I'm not sure how much sense this is going to make, but..."

The Doctor seemed to detect the stress lurking in Ness's voice, "Why don't we move to a room where we can sit down, it sounds like you have quite a story."

Ness nodded and followed the doctor to a room off the side of the entry way that kind of resembled a living room. The Doctor took a seat on one of the couches and motioned for Ness to sit across from him, "Alright now, let's hear about this bind our planet's hero has found himself in."

Ness looked up quickly, "You know about me?"

With a bit of a cough the Doctor looked to the side nervously, "Well, I uhh... let's just say I've been around enough to hear a few of the stories from some of my colleagues."

"I guess that makes sense..." Ness nodded, "It makes this a lot simpler anyway. A lot has been going on over the past few days. My friends who were my companions during our quest against Giygas are in danger. Poo... Poo was already killed by... I don't know what... I have no idea what could be going on with Jeff right now, and Paula has been kidnapped." The Doctor leaned back in the couch and listened intently as Ness spoke, "I can't sense Paula too well, and she hasn't been able to call to me either... but I'm almost positive that she's being held somewhere in Chevia, a country far to the east of here. I just need help to get there fast and save her! Is there anything you have or anyway you can help me reach Chevia quickly Doctor Zambrosia?"

The Doctor appraised Ness carefully for a long moment, apparently lost in thought. The man's eyes closed before he spoke, "Your sincerity is touching my boy; there might be something I can do to help you... as a matter of fact..." The Doctor's voice trailed off without completing his statement.

"What is it?" Ness pressed on.

The Doctor's eyes slowly opened as he looked over at Ness again, "We've actually been working on a device to meet just that need. A sort of sky transport that would be able to cross the ocean to Chevia relatively quickly. The Sky Runner."

A look of excitement crossed Ness's face making him look as though he were about to jump out of his seat, "Then will you let me use it?"

A raised hand suppressed any further reaction from Ness, "There are two things I would need to make you aware of. First it's not quite ready. It is still in the process of final adjustments and should be done soon, but it can't leave yet. And second, the controls are quite complicated; it would take a good amount of time to teach you how to operate the machine safely."

Looking slightly dejected, Ness leaned back into the couch, "Alright, do you have any suggestions?"

The Doctor nodded, "The way I see it you have two options available to you. Should you decide the wait for the Sky Runner too long you may of course seek other means of transporting yourself to Chevia. There are of course cargo ships which regularly cross the ocean, and trucks which regularly haul said cargo from country to country there. I understand you wanting to bypass that method as it would mean nearly a week before you'd make it to Chevia from here. If the Sky Runner could be made ready within two days, then I'm sure one of us could pilot the Sky Runner and get you there in less than one day after that."

A grateful expression returned to Ness's face, "That would be fantastic Doctor Zambrosia! That will be a lot faster than going by foot, if you're sure the Sky Runner will be ready that soon then I'll definitely wait."

The Doctor smiled warmly, "Please allow me to speak with my... ummm... assistants and I'm sure we can come to a suitable arrangement. Will you be requiring quarters for the time being?"

"Quarters? Oh, well... I don't have a place to stay nearby, but I don't want to intrude," Ness scratched his head sheepishly.

"Not at all," The doctor stood from the couch, "we have plenty of guest rooms here; the lab was built large enough to accommodate guests comfortably."

"Thanks, ummm..." Ness tried to think of something sophisticated to say, "I really appreciate the hospitality."

Motioning for Ness to follow him, the doctor led him out toward the laboratory floor. With his hands cupping his mouth the man shouted, "Peach Kid, are you around here?"

From around a corner, a skinny brown haired boy wearing another lab coat and carrying several boxes came running up, "I'm right here Professor Queee!" the boy cried as he fell forward onto the boxes he was carrying.

"For heaven's sake, what I have told you about running through the lab when you're off balance?" The doctor leaned down and helped Peach Kid to his feet and then stacked the boxes back up.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking about the boxes I was carrying I guess," the boy grinned sheepishly.

"As long as you're not hurt," the doctor brushed himself off, "Anyway, this young man here is Ness, he's going to be staying with us for a few days until the Sky Runner is complete. Do you think you could prepare a room for him?"

Peach Kid took Ness's hand and shook it excitedly, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ness! I'll get a room ready right away!" Without further hesitation the kid bounded down the hallway.

"He's a little excitable," the doctor laughed.

Ness nodded and continued following the man across the lab. Through what appeared to be a large hanger door Ness caught a glimpse of what he could only guess was the Sky Runner. It was suspended at least ten feet off the floor. It wasn't as round as Ness had thought it would be; it was actually rather long with a wide bottom and narrower upper compartment, "Is this the Sky Runner?"

"It is indeed," The doctor chuckled. With his head angled upward the doctor called, "We have a guest!"

The echo of something metal being dropped resounded across the room. A few seconds later someone was climbing down a ladder that was placed along the side of the Sky Runner. The guy who came down looked just slightly older than Ness with short messy blond hair and was obviously lean and muscular the way he held a giant wrench over his shoulder.

Ness watched as the young mechanic approached and felt a little confused. The boy looked over at the doctor but an expectant look back at him was all he received. There was a long moment of awkward silence before the boy sighed and put the wrench down. He didn't really look straight at Ness but held out his hand as he cleared his throat, "Hey, you can call me Apricot Kid."

"Ah…" Ness was slow to move, his mouth hung slightly open and an incredulous look washed over his features. Finally he accepted the proffered hand, "Sure... and uh… you can call me Ness."

The doctor looked over Apricot Kid carefully, almost disapprovingly, "Ness is in need of help. He needs to get across the ocean to Chevia to help his friends. I think we should help him, how about you?"

Apricot Kid turned and looked up at the Sky Runner, "Well, I guess so."

"Excellent," The doctor smiled though seemed a bit sad for some reason, "Then once the Sky Runner is ready it will be you two going to Chevia."

Apricot Kid nodded, still not looking back at either of them, "Alright, then I should probably get back to work."

"Good lad!" Apricot Kid started walking back over to the ladder and pulled out an apple to bite into before heading back up. The doctor put a hand on Ness's shoulder and led him out of the hanger. He spoke softly as to not be overheard, "I do apologize, Apricot Kid hasn't been very social lately; he has quite a lot on his mind."

Ness nodded quietly and kept pace with the doctor. He couldn't help but frown a bit while looking over his shoulder as they walked away.

Peach Kid came running back down the hall soon thereafter, "Hey Doc, I got the guest room all set up!"

"Very good, then if you would be so kind as to show Ness to his room," the doctor turned and started walking back to the hanger. "I should be helping Apricot Kid with the Sky Runner," The man seemed to be speaking just a little excessively loud.

Peach Kid's expression went blank for a moment, but with a slight nod he simply let out an, "Ohhhh," then he smiled at Ness again, "Come on then, it's this way."

As the two walked down the hallways Ness kept looking around randomly. His mind was obviously preoccupied with something as his eyes lacked any real focus. Peach Kid cocked his head to the side as he looked Ness over, "You look like you're thinking pretty hard about something."

Ness laughed, "About a lot of things actually."

Again with a cheerful smile Peach Kid asked, "What kind of things?"

Ness shook his head, "First, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, anything!" Peach Kid answered sincerely enough.

"Well first, how long have you been working here?" The boy seemed rather young to Ness to be working as a scientist's assistant.

"Only for about six or seven months…" Peach Kid closed his eyes to think about it for a moment. His face was almost hidden by his tall coat collar as he looked down remembering, "People think I look younger, but I'm actually thirteen, almost fourteen. I grew up in a wrecking yard that my dad owned. People would dump all kinds of stuff like motors with a lot of good parts still; so I used to go through some of the junk and build new things. The Doc happened to be going through one day looking for spare bits himself and saw my collection of gadgets and offered me a job here! I've helped out ever since."

"That's cool," Ness admired, "I'm definitely no good at putting stuff together. Does anyone live or work here besides you three?"

Peach Kid shook his head, "Not right now, but the doc doesn't really go recruiting people. From what I know he just kind of hand picked us because he saw we mostly knew what we were doing."

"You and Apricot Kid you mean?" Ness asked.

"Well, yeah!" Peach Kid giggled a bit as he scratched his head.

"This place also seems really clean and new," Ness had been looking around at the building as they'd been walking through, "I mean, no offense, but three guys living here and everything really is clean, how long has Doctor Zambrosia been working here."

"None taken!" Peach Kid laughed again as he thought, "I actually end up with most of the cleaning duties, but the doc and I made some robots that help out too! But actually most of the lab and compound is less than a year old. When I started here it wasn't even finished yet. In fact the way the doc talks sometimes about adding another hanger or wing makes me think it's still not."

Ness hummed to himself as they finished their walk down the hallway.

"This is it," Peach Kid stopped in front of a rather ordinary looking door. He turned a knob and showed Ness inside. The décor was rather impersonal, similar to a hotel room, but as with the rest of the building it was very neat and clean.

"Wow, this is really nice," Ness looked impressed by the accommodations, "Thank you very much."

"No problem," Peach Kid turned to leave, "We normally eat dinner around six. Make yourself at home and if you need anything just press the green button on one of the intercoms built into the walls around the building and I'll help you out!"

Ness shook his head and suppressed a chuckle, "Thanks." Peach Kid closed the door behind him and left Ness to his own devices.

It was no lie that Ness had a lot on his mind. There was a lot he'd seen here at the lab which troubled him and he couldn't decide how to best deal with it all.

The Professor and Peach Kid seemed nice enough, and it was great that they were willing to help. He'd be in a world of hurt if they had turned him away. The overtones to a lot of the conversation though still left him feeling that something just wasn't right here. He spent most of the time before dinner simply staring at the ceiling of the guest room lost in thought.

Before Ness realized how much time had passed he heard the buzzer going off on his room's intercom, "Hey Ness, dinner will be ready soon, think you can find your way back to the front?" Peach Kid's voice teased.

A grin finally crossed Ness's face as he accepted the challenge and walked back down the straight hallway. Off the living area was a very modern dining room. The decor wasn't anything fancy, most of the appliances and even the table and chairs looked to be stainless steel, the chairs just had padded cushions over the frame. It suited the atmosphere of a laboratory Ness thought.

Peach Kid was setting the food down on a serving table when he noticed Ness in the doorway, "Go ahead and grab a plate and pile on as much food as you like!" Peach Kid didn't hesitate to follow his own advice and filled up his plate with bits from all the prepared courses.

Ness took a look at was available and saw rotisserie chicken, steamed vegetables, chopped fruit, celery with a spinach dip, and a chef salad with ham. After staring at the food for a long moment Ness finally muttered, "Wow, it looks so... healthy."

The doctor walked into the room behind Peach Kid as the brown haired boy tried to explain, "Yeah, the eeaaeerrr... umm..." Ness noticed the doctor poke Peach Kid on the shoulder, "The Doc, I mean, doesn't like junk food. He does keep the menu pretty healthy."

Plate in hand, Ness sat down across from Peach Kid and politely waited for everyone to have their food before he started eating his own. The doctor sat down at the end of the table and motioned with his hand toward the other two, "Please go ahead and eat."

"What about Apricot Kid?" Ness couldn't help but ask noticing it was only the three of them in the dining room.

A rather disheartened chuckled escaped the doctor's lips, "He will not be joining us, he says he's on a roll with the tuning of the Sky Runner and can't stop just yet."

Ness couldn't help himself as he let out a sigh. The others simply frowned in understanding and ate mostly in silence.

Ness finished up the food on his plate and stood, "Thank you very much for the food, do you need any help washing the dishes or anything?"

The doctor shook his head, "We have a very good industrial dish washing machine, no need to worry."

"Then I'm probably going to walk around for a bit," Ness turned to leave the room.

"Check out the field outside!" Peach Kid suggested excitedly, "It's a good place to stretch."

"Thanks, I will," Ness smiled appreciatively before leaving.

The sky was still aglow with the red and purple colors of dusk as Ness stepped outside. He started to walk across the crater valley and began to take in a real appreciation for the location. The valley was secluded so no one who didn't very well mean to be here would find it; there was also plenty of real estate, the whole place was at least as large as a football stadium. There was even a track like ring that ran along the outskirts of the compound, and the bars and platforms were definitely set up to be some kind of training ground.

Ness jumped toward the balancing equipment and used his power to push himself up to one of the taller platforms. From there he looked around briefly before taking a deep breath. He crouched down and jumped off the platform with a strong kick and floated himself across three of the stands to try and land on one further away. When he landed he almost skidded off, "Whoa, these are actually slippery. You've gotta be really good to land just precisely on these, huh..."

After a moment of looking out at all the platforms and judging their distance Ness grinned and took another leap. He had to focus his power not only on getting him across the long space, but also on stopping quickly without sliding off his landing spot. He landed on bent knee rather gracefully on the next platform. Within a few jumps he had the concentration figured out on how to land properly. From there he tried raising his speed, jumping from one landing to another while taking very little time between each one. Adding a few flips and rolls into his jumps, Ness had managed to work up a good sweat.

Stopping to catch his breath, Ness stood atop the tallest platform and allowed his thoughts to catch up to him as well.

"… _Ness… Ness… Ness… Ness, Ness!"_

That pestering nag at the back of his head that he wasn't strong enough and needed to keep pushing was still there. He grit his teeth as his psikinetic energy built up in his right hand with visible bright sparks.

The energy built up immensely as Ness felt ready to unleash his Rockin, "P…K…" Ness spun around on the platform in search of a target for his ability. His eyes softened and the power left his hand as he noticed Peach Kid standing nearby who gave him a sheepish wave. Ness suddenly realized he had gathered enough energy to do some damage or hurt someone. He was normally more careful than that.

Ness hopped off the platform and floated closer to Peach Kid, "Hey."

"Wow Ness! I've never seen psikinetic powers up close before! That was really something cool!" Peach kid started spatting out excitedly.

"They can be dangerous too…" Ness sighed. He was feeling more agitated with himself than with Peach Kid for coming around but it was hard to tell by his demeanor.

Peach Kid quieted down and took a step back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

Realizing now how he said his words, Ness tried to make amends, "No, no, don't be sorry, I'm the one who should be more observant when doing stuff like that. Anyway, you said you've never seen psikinetic powers up close before, so what kind of things would you like to see?"

Peach Kid thought for a moment, "I've heard that a lot of psikinetic people can control the elements, like lightning and fire and water. Can you do that?"

"I can now," Ness pointed a hand toward the sky and a lightning bolt flew from his hand lighting the surroundings for a fraction of a second and leaving behind a slight crack of thunder.

"That was so amazing!" Peach Kid cheered, "It was so fast though, is there anyway you could slow it down so it's possible to watch the energy form?"

Ness thought for a second, "Hmmm, I haven't done that before, but I'm pretty sure I can do that, it would probably just take a little more focus than normal."

"I'd love to be able to watch how the particles form your abilities," Peach Kid nearly begged, "This is going to sound nerdy but I'm really curious as to whether it forms the same or different from natural phenomena."

Ness laughed, "You definitely belong at a place like this. Alright then, let's work on some control..." Ness held his right hand out in front of him and concentrated. A spark began to glow above his hand and slowly formed a thunder ball. Without launching it, Ness kept his focus on it while slowly moving his hand from side to side, being careful not to release the ball as moved with him. The lightning power gave off a brilliant light that was reflected brightly in both boys' eyes as they watched it move carefully.

"That is nothing like natural occurring events actually…" Peach Kid whispered just above the crackling of the lightning.

"I've got an idea…" Without dissipating the first power, Ness held out his left hand and carefully ignited a fireball. With fire in one hand and lightning in the other he continued his delicate balancing act, moving them around gently and watching the light they gave off.

Peach Kid ran his hand above the flames, "The heat is very direct, it's as if it's not consuming oxygen from the air at all. It's feeding completely on psi energy."

Looking up from his hands, Ness asked, "So psi energy isn't natural?"

"At least it doesn't behave like natural elements," A strange thought crossed Peach Kid's mind, "Since they're not behaving like natural elements and are complete constructs of psi energy in different forms, what would happen if you combined them?"

With a shrug Ness replied, "Should we find out?" Peach Kid nodded and without really knowing what would happen they watched as Ness brought both hands together.

The two powers sparked against each other as they made contact, but Ness intensified his concentration to remain in control of his abilities and not allow them explode. Ness continued to push on them until the powers began to overlap each other.

"Cool," Ness whispered to himself as he watched the lightning dance across licking flames.

"There's a whole new meaning to electrical fire!" Peach Kid grinned.

Ness chuckled and held the power up close to his face. He blew into his hands while directing them away from him. The power released in a dazzling streak of spark and ember into the sky.

Once the light from the energy faded Ness realized he'd been outside for a good while. The sky now was left illuminated solely by the multitude of stars, which clearly dotted the heavens being this far out from any major city, "We should probably get back inside."

"Okay," Peach Kid led the way back through the front door.

As the two of them walked inside Ness noticed the lab looked much different at night. The lights had all been shut off or dimmed in the main lab and living areas. The only source of real light in the main lab was coming from the hanger. As they took a few steps into the lab though, those too were turned out. There were footsteps leaving the hanger as well

Peach Kid looked up at the hanger, "That must be, umm… Apricot Kid… finishing up for the night. He stays in the loft room above the hanger."

"I see…" Deciding that he needed to get things settled now rather than later, Ness started making his way toward the hanger, "It was cool hanging out with you Peach Kid, see you in the morning."

Peach Kid sighed as Ness entered the lab, "Well this is going to be interesting…"

The lab was really dark; Ness had to squint his eyes to peer through the darkness, but was able to make out a ladder that led up to what looked like the loft off the side of the hanger. The sound of a door being shut combined with the outside lights being turned off only confirmed for Ness that Apricot Kid's room must have been up there.

Wasting no time, Ness began climbing his way up to the loft floor. The landing at the top of the ladder was cluttered with a bunch of boxes and pieces of equipment that made the place look as though it was used for little more than storage. The table, television, and recliner that were obscured behind the boxes told a tale of the space being intended originally for something different though.

The door to the next room was nearby. As Ness closed in on the door though he became aware of a sound coming from the other side of it; a clang followed by metal rubbing against metal. Wondering how to approach the situation, Ness waited outside the door for a moment. Finally he decided on the simple approach, he knocked on the door.

The sound from inside the room stopped, "Come in."

Ness pushed the door open and walked inside. The room was very neat. There was a lot in the room, but it was as tidy as the rest of the lab. It was difficult to take in the sites of the room however as Ness's attention was immediately drawn to the source of the previous noise. To the side of the room was a hanging bar suspended from the ceiling and Apricot Kid was dangling upside down on it by his knees.

"Oh," It was an acknowledgement rather than a greeting Ness received as Apricot Kid leaned up, grabbed onto the bar, and flipped himself off. He immediately grabbed a towel and a bottle of water from an end table nearby. After a few sips of the water he finally asked, "So… what can I help you with… Ness?"

Arms crossed, Ness observed Apricot Kid rather intensely. The room remained silent for a long moment before Ness finally just blurted out, "So what's with this whole 'Apricot Kid' act, Jeff?"

A dry laugh came from across the room and his voice eased up, "So you did recognize me huh?"

Ness almost looked offended, "Of course I did! You can't just throw off the glasses and pull a Clark Kent on me, come on!"

"It worked on plenty of other people who _knew_ me," Jeff wiped some sweat from his brow before taking a seat at a small table and motioning for Ness to sit across from him.

After taking a seat at Jeff's table the room remained awkwardly silent, "So what's the deal Jeff? Why were you hoping so bad that I wouldn't recognize you?"

"It's not a big deal..." Jeff started.

"Of course it is!" Ness slammed his fist down on the table, "You were hiding and hoping your friends wouldn't find you, why? There's no reason for you to cut off contact with everyone and ditch your past!"

"Like you're one to talk!" Jeff snapped back immediately, "Cut off contact? Ditch your past? Well where the hell did you go a year ago? No one knew where you wondered off to; you didn't tell anyone where you were going, you didn't even leave a note! And now you're asking me why I cut off contact with people from my past? Seriously you can quit it with the hypocrisy."

Feeling defensive, Ness responded in kind to Jeff's tone, "I wasn't hiding!"

"Oh of course, you made yourself easily accessible by some means that we were never made aware of, and that makes all the difference between you and me," Jeff spoke with a strong sarcastic bite.

Ness's fist was shaking, partly because the way Jeff was taunting him was having a strong effect, and partly because he knew what Jeff said was true, even if he wasn't about to admit it, "We need to stop, what's going on right now is more important than us arguing…"

Jeff leaned back in his seat, "I'm listening."

Making serious eye contact with Jeff, Ness tried to appeal, "Poo has been murdered."

Jeff broke the eye contact and moved his eyes downcast. It wasn't a strong reaction, but Ness could tell he had at least made it through the first barrier, "Why do you think that?"

"Paula told me. I had a dream while I was in New Morel that Poo was dead. I called up Paula and she told me that it really happened," Ness was visibly shaken from his emotions switching so rapidly from anger to grief. I teleported this morning to Twoson, but when I got there Polestar Preschool had been ransacked and Paula was gone! I can sense her but she's so far away. I think she's in a country called Chevia."

Jeff leaned his chin on his arm and thought in silence for a moment. Neither of them broke the silence as Ness's words settled. Finally Jeff sighed, "I already knew that something strange was happening in Chevia. One of the reasons I'm working on the Sky Runner was to go see it for myself and put a stop to things if I have to."

"Then it works out perfect," Ness spoke confidently, "We can both go and take care of this like old times!"

The silence returned for a bit as Jeff crossed his arms in continued thought. It seemed like a simple decision to Ness and he was beginning to wonder why Jeff was taking so long to respond. Jeff finally moved and got Ness's attention, "There is a lot going on right now Ness, more than I think you understand."

"What are you talking about?" Ness asked with an incredulous and offended tinge to his voice.

Jeff shook his head, "The world's at odds with itself right now. Over the last year there have been more and more people discovering that they have gifts. Gifts like yours."

"I've heard about that," Ness admitted quickly, "There have been a lot of run-ins between normal people and psikinetics over the last year."

"Well…" Jeff quieted as he thought for another moment, "I think whatever is happening in Chevia might have something to do with other conflicts arising between the people in the world. Are you sure that's something you want to become involved in?"

Ness stood quickly from the table, "How could you even ask me that?! I'm already involved! I've got to save Paula! And if someone or something is causing trouble around the world then I'm going to stop it."

"It might not be as easy as that…" Jeff's words were almost cryptic, but Ness was beyond caring.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Ness took in a breath to help collect himself, "I already decided I'm going. I could really use the help to get there faster, but even if you weren't able to help me I'd find another way!"

"Alright then," Jeff rubbed his temples to work some of the stress out, "Just keep in mind you may not like what you find."

Unfazed by the comment, Ness added, "Don't worry, that won't stop me."

Jeff looked up at Ness as though he was about to say something but quickly looked away, "It's amazing how little you've changed over this last year."

Feeling calmer Ness reasonably asked, "Were you expecting something so different?"

Jeff shook his head, "It's just been a long year, and people change."

"People don't have to change," Ness tried to gauge Jeff's demeanor, "I don't think you've changed that much."

"I'm nothing like the person I was a year ago Ness," Jeff's tone wasn't argumentative, but it had a grave sense of finality to it.

Ness looked away for a moment to steel himself before saying, "Also, I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Jeff was confused as to what Ness was referring to.

"Like you said, this has been a long year for everyone, and I wasn't there for you guys, I'm so sorry…" Ness tried to elaborate what he was feeling, "I thought I was doing what was best for everyone by training to keep everyone safe… No… Maybe something else was going on… But I should have stayed by friends' sides and helped with whatever happened. I wasn't there for you guys and that makes me feel ashamed."

Jeff didn't seem to have a response for Ness. He looked away to try and keep Ness from reading his expression. After a few minutes he got up from the table and started walking further into his room, "It's late, you should go to bed."

Though he had been hoping for a response, Ness tried to accept the abrupt end of their conversation. Ness got up and reached for the door handle, "Umm…"

When Jeff noticed Ness was still by the door he added, "Do you need help finding your room or anything?"

"No, I know where it's at," Ness mumbled over his shoulder, "…Good night."

"Mph," Jeff grumbled in response.

Had there been more light in the room the twitch of Ness's eyebrow and the disappointed expression would have been more apparent. Ness let the door shut a harder than he intended and the world went silent again.

Once Ness was gone Jeff let out a long sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, "And once again matters become even more complicated."

Down the hallway Ness marched with his hands in his pockets and grumbling to himself. He didn't know what caused Jeff to change into someone who seemed to care so little for things, but he didn't like it. The Jeff he remembered had bad days sure, but Jeff always used to go out of his way to help others sort through their issues and solve problems together.

Ness opened the door to his room. It was pitch black inside, but he didn't bother turning on a light. He walked in and plopped hard on the bed. After just one year it seemed that nothing was as he left it. More angry and frustrated thoughts followed.

Jeff seemed to know something he didn't though. He had mentioned trouble the trouble between people and psikinetics. Ness had seen firsthand that most people are scared of what psikinetics are capable of. After running into Masys it seemed that psikinetics weren't exactly fond of normal people either.

" _It hurts…"_

Ness's eyes widened as a thought landed on his mind like a brick, "Could Jeff… be against psikinetics?" Jeff was a normal person after all. But they had spent so much time together; Jeff should have had a much closer understanding of psi powers than most other humans.

" _Friends…?"_

Ness sank into his bed out of worry. Jeff had a lot going on that he didn't want to talk about, "If he thinks I abandoned him a year ago and now feels psykinetics are his enemy… he might hate me…" Ness covered his ears and rolled over.

" _It's not right…"_

They would be travelling together to Chevia once the Sky Runner was ready, "This could suck…" Ness closed his eyes to try and sleep. Somehow he'd just have to find out more and know for sure before they left.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Wow, this is the longest chapter I've written for any story in a long time. A lot of it was kind of descriptive filler, but I try to point things out for a reason normally. I'm probably being a little ambitious with how I want this story to turn out, but I'm hoping those interested will bear with me so we can find out why things have turned out the way they have.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will be doing my best to get the next chapter out soon!

'Till next time!


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